


You Raise Me Up

by SilverInk



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cheesy, Credence lives, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, So cheesy I'm looking for a good wine pairing, but mostly - Freeform, mentions of abuse, wouldn't recommend reading if ur lactose intolerant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 06:26:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9165934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverInk/pseuds/SilverInk
Summary: A reimagining of the scene in the subway and the weeks after.A MACUSA auror takes Credence home and gives him all the love and affection he deserves. Self-indulgent fluff.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Me and my friends wanted Credence to have a soft bf who loves him and treats him right, so I came up with this. Enjoy!

Eric Mackintosh watched in growing horror as the black cloud of the obscurus tore through the streets, wreaking havoc as it went. A crowd of No-Majs had gathered to watch; even if they could separate the obscurus from the obscurial host, they could never Obliviate that many people. 

Magic would be exposed. It would mean war.

The obscurus disappeared into the subway, and a man with red hair and a blue coat went after it, soon followed by a woman with short, dark hair. Eric followed them quietly and saw the man talking to the obscurus in a calming voice. He didn’t think the man was an Auror, but Eric himself had only been working for MACUSA for a few months, so he couldn’t be sure. He got a better look at the woman and recognized her as Tina Goldstein, who he knew was (or at least used to be) on the investigative team. She stood a little ways behind the man, watching with trepidation and saying something unintelligible to him. As Eric watched, the black cloud stilled then gradually receded, shrinking into the shape of a young man with black hair who was sitting on the ground near the tracks, hugging his knees to his chest. Eric's eyebrows raised slightly. This man was far older than any other obscurial Eric had heard of; he had to be very powerful to be able to repress his magic for so long and not have it destroy him. For just a few seconds, the man looked past the red-haired man and straight at Eric, intense and pleading, and Eric’s chest tightened. _Jesus._

The man with the blue coat knelt down and cautiously approached the young man, still speaking softly and gently. Eric wasn't sure what he was saying, but it seemed to work. The dark-haired man seemed to calm down somewhat, and once he seemed stable, Eric cautiously went over to him and gently took his elbow, escorting him out of the remains of the subway. Seeing him closer up, Eric realized he had seen the man before. He was an adopted son of the leader of the Second Salemers, Mary Lou Barebone; Eric had seen him handing out those nasty pamphlets, even taken one just to see what kind of argument they were making, but he didn't know his name. All around, buildings had been turned to rubble, and Eric tried not to let either himself or the other man trip on the debris on the ground. Eric could feel him shaking, and he looked like he was about to cry. 

"You're alright now. You're fine," Eric said gently, trying to calm him down. "What's your name?" It didn't seem to work too well, because the next instant, the man grabbed tightly to the sleeve of Eric's coat with both hands, and buried his face in Eric's shoulder, definitely crying now. 

"Hey, it's alright, it's ok now." Eric awkwardly squeezed his arm. "I just have to make a report, and then figure out a place for you to stay. It won't take long. You’re safe now, you’re ok.” The man nodded shakily, sobbing quietly into Eric's thick wool coat. "I'm afraid you won't be able to go home for a while.” Though that had to be a good thing, knowing what his home life was probably like. Eric bit his lip; that probably wasn’t a very smart thing to say. He tried to fix his mistake: “There’s a specific set of protocols we have to follow when something like this happens—” 

“Oh thank God," he interrupted, sounding like he might cry with relief now. “Thank you so much." 

Eric kept his hand on the man's arm the rest of the way to the MACUSA building, but had to let go when they got to the entrance. After going down several long hallways and flights of stairs, they got to the office floor. Eric found his own desk space and sat down with the appropriate paperwork, watching the other man out of the corner of his eye. He was looking around the office, clearly amazed by the little trivial uses magic could have. It certainly wasn't the evil force of destruction his adoptive mother had told him it was, and Eric smiled a little to himself. 

Eric raised a quill to the paper, but then stopped, drawing a blank. 

"Um. Could I get your name, please?" he asked awkwardly. 

"Credence," the dark-haired man said quietly. "Credence Barebone." 

Eric nodded. "Nice to meet you, Credence. I'm Eric Macintosh by the way.” He held out his hand for Credence to shake, giving him a smile. For the first time, Eric got a good look at Credence. He was actually quite handsome, Eric thought. He had a strong jawline and lovely, expressive brown eyes, and hair that looked very soft, though it badly needed a growth potion and some styling. The cut looked awkward on him, though at the moment it was tousled in a very attractive way. Eric realized he was probably staring, and turned his attention back to the report, blushing. He quickly filled in the necessary information, signed it, then magically folded it into a tiny crane, which flew into his boss's office (separated from the communal office by a frosted glass door) and unfolded itself on her desk. Credence was clearly impressed, and Eric couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he told Eric how amazing that was. 

"Mackintosh?" came a voice behind him and he turned around. It was his boss, known exclusively as “M”. Eric doubted she was ever called anything else. She walked up to him, her heels clicking loudly on the tile, and said, “Can I have a word in my office?” 

Eric followed her behind the glass door, and she started talking right away without any sort of preamble. “He—” she waved her hand toward the main office, “—is scheduled to have a hearing early tomorrow morning. We’re going to put him in a holding cell until then, but afterwards we’ll need to know where he’s going to stay for next three months.” Eric frowned, slightly worried for Credence; they most likely wouldn’t take it too easy on him at the hearing, and he clearly wasn’t in a good place mentally… 

“I don’t need to remind you of the protocol for this situation, do I?” asked M sharply. 

“No ma’am,” Eric said. He knew the rules by heart. He knew that if an obscurial survived, they should be kept for at least three months in a low-stress environment, where MACUSA could keep an eye on them. The first three months after an obscurial incident were when the person was most likely to be unstable, so they had to be monitored carefully. They couldn’t stay in a holding cell long-term, of course, so they usually lived with a MACUSA agent. 

“Maybe he should stay with Goldstein?” Eric added. “She and her friend seemed to know what to do.” 

“You seem pretty attached, Mackintosh,” she said with a smirk. “He should stay with you I think, at least for now. If you two end up hating each other, he can go stay with Goldstein. I’ll let you know when you can pick him up.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Eric said. He was secretly very happy about her decision. He’d wanted Credence to stay with him, but he wasn’t sure he was qualified. She dismissed him, and he went back into the main office. 

Credence was no longer there, and Eric felt another brief stab of worry. He was probably being taken to a holding cell now. He would be alright, Eric told himself. Why wouldn’t he be? He was perfectly fine. 

*** 

All the next day, Eric waited for M to come tell him the hearing was done, but she never did. He waited and waited, his morning coffee left untouched and the stack of paperwork on his desk becoming only marginally smaller as several hours ticked past; still M didn’t come to get him. By mid afternoon, he started to suspect that she’d forgotten, and decided to go into the hearing room himself to check. He could use a break from paperwork anyway. 

He headed down the hall from the office, down the elevator, and found the room with relative ease. _HEARING IN SESSION,_ read the sign on the door. Eric sighed. It wasn't abnormal for a hearing to take a few hours, though he found himself being a little concerned about Credence. He mentally rolled his eyes. Why was he so worried, he wasn't the boy's mother? Of course, he knew the answer; he wanted to protect him and help him. He remembered the look of desperation on Credence’s face when he’d looked at Eric in the subway yesterday and shivered. 

Sighing again, he went back to the office to try and finish his paperwork. 

*** 

The next morning, M came to get him almost right away and said that the hearing was finally done. Eric breathed a sigh of relief and said in a slightly breathless voice, “Oh, thank you! Good!” 

Before he knew it, he was down in the holding cells and Credence was being released to him for the next three months. The boy kept his head down and didn’t really look at Eric, or anyone else, on the walk to Eric’s apartment, though he seemed very glad to be out of the holding cell and to not have anyone interrogating him. Credence didn’t seem to want to talk much either, so Eric kept up a stream of mindless chatter as they walked to hopefully make him feel better and make the walk less boring. 

The first few days of living together were a little awkward. Credence seemed very uncomfortable with the idea of being a guest in Eric's house, with Eric giving him a spare room and cooking for him every day, even though Eric insisted many times that it wasn't any trouble, and that there were no conditions or consequences for anything. 

Credence could never sit down or use the shower without asking, and even then he seemed vaguely uneasy about it. But for all the awkwardness their relationship had, Credence unexpectedly trusted him. Not completely, but much more and more quickly than Eric had expected. Eric found that it scared him a little, having so much trust placed in him and having such potential power over the young man, but he was also very glad it was him in this position and not someone who would misuse him. 

However, he and Frederica, Eric’s cat, immediately fell in love. As soon as Credence and Eric came in the door, Frederica ran over to them and rubbed all over Credence’s legs, getting black and white fur everywhere. Eric laughed, picking her up and letting Credence pet her, then handing her off to him when she tried to jump out of Eric’s arms. Eric wasn’t around very much to pay attention to her, so she was very excited that Credence was there now, and he quickly became Frederica’s favorite. 

A few days after Credence had moved in, Eric got up and went to the bakery down the street for some fresh chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. He started to make some fresh coffee, and a while later, Credence came into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing his eyes, his hair sleep-mussed and sticking up all over. Eric tried not to notice how adorable he was, failed of course, and tried to hide his grin by turning around and focusing intently on making coffee and some scrambled eggs. 

Credence reluctantly took a seat and let Eric give him a muffin and a plate of eggs. He glanced at the large mug Eric was holding, and Eric realized with a shock that he'd probably never had coffee before. 

"Have you had coffee before, Credence?" Eric asked tactfully, gesturing to the mug. The young man shook his head, looking interested. 

"It's really good. It's kind of bitter though, so it’s a bit of an acquired taste. Here, you can try some if you want." He proffered the mug to Credence, who took it with both hands, inhaling deeply then taking a sip. 

“You can have the rest if you want,” Eric grinned, finding another mug and magically making some coffee for himself and mixing in some milk and sugar. 

“It’s delicious,” Credence said, licking his lips and then taking another sip, his face mostly hidden by the mug. “Thank you.” 

They finished breakfast, and Eric left to go to work. He only had to work a few days the next three months since he was taking care of an obscurial; even though he didn’t have to spend as much time at headquarters now, he was still doing important work for MACUSA. He was making sure that Credence was safe so he could start using his magic instead of repressing it, which was very important to the safety of New York. 

Eric did mostly paperwork and errands for various people all day, which included bringing coffee to several of the higher-ups of MACUSA. He noticed that Percival Graves, the man who always had Eric (or some other newbie) bring him coffee several times during the day, was nowhere in sight. Eric asked around, and learned that yesterday, after he himself had left the subway and gone back to headquarters, Graves had been arrested and revealed to be none other than Gellert Grindelwald. No one knew where the real Graves was, however, and it worried many of his coworkers and the higher-ups to no end. 

Some people were saying Graves and Grindelwald were in cahoots all along, and Graves had earned the trust of the MACUSA Aurors in order to further Grindelwald’s plans; a double agent. Others said Graves was most likely in some dark, sinister cave where no one would find him. Eric wasn’t sure what to believe. He doubted most of it was even true, though it would undoubtedly fuel the rumor mill for weeks to come. 

All in all, it was a pretty average, boring day, but at the last minute, Eric’s whole department was told off by their boss, M, for jinxing the lamp on President Picquery’s desk to sing offensive songs every time it was turned on. That made Eric's day, but he tried hard not to laugh; he didn’t quite manage it, though. Everyone else thought it was hilarious too, and eventually their frustrated boss dismissed them with an irritated sigh. 

*** 

At home, Eric went into the living room and saw Credence sitting on the couch under a blanket, reading a book, with Frederica the cat on his lap. He seemed to have relaxed some since that morning, and he and Freddie were getting along very well. Eric smiled to himself. 

Freddie meowed loudly when she saw him, and Credence looked up from the book, startled. He smiled at Eric and blushed, suddenly looking self-conscious. 

“Oh, hi,” he said a little awkwardly. “Um, how was work?" 

“It was fine.” He started to tell Credence about his day. When he mentioned Graves, Credence’s head snapped up sharply and he looked at Eric with a mixture of anger, hurt, and fear on his face. Eric looked at him in surprise. 

“Y-you know Graves?” Credence asked, a hard edge in his voice now, trying for casual but missing by a mile. 

“Yeah, he works for MACUSA. Or he used to." 

As if reading Eric’s curiosity, Credence went on: “I—He—He asked me to help him find someone for him. And he promised if I did he’d help me and teach me magic. I thought he would help me. But—he was different than I thought…” He gave a helpless shrug, unable to explain more than that. Eric was appalled. He shook his head, touching Credence’s arm awkwardly. 

“I understand.” 

*** 

After a few more days, Credence seemed to be healing physically. He was much more well-rested, Eric was giving him lots of food, and the few small cuts on his face and arms from the debris in the subway were slowly disappearing. He reluctantly let Eric look him over for other injuries, even taking off his shirt with some persuading so Eric could check his back. There were lots of scars on his back and shoulders, and a few newer cuts which Eric healed instantly with magic. 

Mental and emotional healing took more time, though. After about a week of deep sleep and quiet nights, Eric woke up to the sounds of desperate shouts from the guest bedroom. He got up hurriedly and ran into the room. 

“Credence?” he whispered, shaking Credence’s shoulder. Credence woke up with a start, looking around the room with wide eyes, breathing frantically. 

“It’s alright, it was just a dream. You’re fine now,” Eric soothed, as Credence visibly started shaking and grabbed tightly to Eric’s arm. “I’m here. You’re alright, it wasn’t real.” 

Eric stroked his hair comfortingly and murmured sweet nothings for a minute. When he seemed calmer, Eric went to the kitchen to make some hot cocoa, hoping to make him feel better. The ingredients mixed magically into two mugs and Eric went back into the bedroom, handing one to Credence. 

“Here, cocoa will make you feel better." Credence took the mug with a shy smile. 

"Thank you. For—for everything," he said sincerely, meeting Eric's eyes a little skittishly. 

"Of course," Eric answered, just as sincere, giving him a reassuring smile. 

*** 

Credence had been there a little over two weeks. He had nightmares several nights a week, and every time, Eric would make him cocoa and try to calm him down. The nightmares were usually about Credence’s adoptive mother from what he told Eric; either he’d never really escaped and was still living with her, or she came back from the dead and forced him to come home with her. Eventually, one afternoon, Eric went to a wizarding street market on 5th avenue for some errands, and ended up buying a bottle of potion that was meant to dispel bad dreams. 

Credence was napping when he left, so he tried to be very quiet coming into the house. In the middle of the kitchen floor, his shoe crunched on something. He looked down and saw there were shards of broken pottery on the floor. Eric frowned and looked around for Credence. 

“Credence?” Eric called, wanting to make sure the boy hadn’t hurt himself. No answer, but then he appeared from around the corner, looking scared, eyes shining. 

“I’m so sorry about the plate, I didn’t mean to drop it, it was wet and—” 

“No, it’s ok, I don’t care about the plate. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t cut yourself,” said Eric, watching him with concern. He seemed tense and guarded and scared, which he never had with Eric before. To Eric’s surprise, Credence started taking off his belt, then handed it to Eric, eyes on the floor. 

“What—?” Eric started, and then realization dawned on him. 

_Oh…_

That was why he was suddenly so scared. Eric swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and had to blink back tears. How could that be so normal for him that he just automatically handed his own belt to Eric, even after they’d gotten to know each other pretty well? 

“Oh my god, Credence, I’d never—” He couldn’t finish. He took the belt and put it on the table, grabbing both of Credence’s hands instead, lightly touching the backs. There were several white scars on his knuckles, and a long, thin one running all the way across his hand. There were more on his palms, and Eric ran his thumb over all of them. He swallowed again, his mouth suddenly dry. 

“I’d never hurt you, ever.” He looked at Credence’s face, but he was watching Eric’s fingers with something like wonder. “You know that, don’t you?” 

“Really?” Credence whispered, after a short pause. “I mean, you’ve been nothing but kind to me, but I—I broke the plate and I thought you’d be mad and—” He visibly struggled for words. His eyes were still fixated on their hands, now seemingly afraid to meet Eric’s gaze. Eric gently tipped Credence’s chin up and looked seriously into his dark eyes. They were full of confusion and hurt, and Eric bit his lip hard. 

“Really. I’d never hurt you. Not for any reason, ever.” His voice shook a little, but this was important and he needed Credence to understand. Credence leaned into him and buried his face in Eric's chest, taking deep, shuddering breaths, and Eric wrapped his arms around him. 

"Thank you," Credence said after a while, stepping back to look up at Eric. Eric wasn’t sure what to say, so he just nodded, touching Credence’s cheek, and then without really knowing what he was doing, leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. He pulled away quickly, shocked at what he’d done. 

“I-I’m sorry,” Eric stuttered, but Credence shook his head and said hesitantly, “No, I—I liked it. A lot.” He blushed a little and glanced down, then back up, and tentatively kissed him again, just a quick peck on the cheek this time. 

“Yeah?” Eric asked a little breathlessly, surprised by his confidence. Credence nodded. 

“I—I’ve wanted to do that for a—a while,” he said, ducking his head to hide his blush. 

“Oh, you’re perfect,” Eric let out a breath of laughter. “I have too,” he admitted, realizing how true it was only after he’d said it. Credence looked up in surprise and Eric leaned down and kissed him again, tenderly and sweetly this time. 


End file.
